Barbados selectors facing problems

Barbados' cricket selectors appear to have a problem.

It's not who to pick, but who to leave out.

The availability of the recuperating Roland Holder and Ryan Hinds means changes will almost certainly have to be made from the team that convincingly beat the West Indies "B" in their third round Busta match which ended on Sunday at the Penal ground in Trinidad.

It was a match in which debutant Shirley Clarke made an unbeaten 65 and inexperienced No. 3 batsman Sean Armstrong followed earlier scores of 33 and 48 with a season-best 71.

"The selectors will be in for a bit of a problem and I don't know what they are going to do," team coach Hendy Springer told NATIONSPORT on his return to Barbados yesterday.

"We have people who are performing, and that is what we wanted from the start of the season. It's still early in the season, the guys are performing and it should be good competition for places."

It, therefore, will be interesting to see the final XI that takes the field for Barbados' fourth-round match against England "A" starting Friday at Kensington Oval.

"It's good to have a wealth of talent as opposed to a dearth, so I'm happy with the excess," said manager Tony Howard.

Both Springer and Howard spoke highly of the Barbados performance in a match in which almost the entire third day's play was lost.

Barbados won by ten wickets and there were also notable performances from debutant off-spinner Ryan Austin, wicket-keeper/batsman Courtney Browne and leg-spinner Dave Marshall.

"The guys worked harder in this game. They set some plans up for themselves and came out and accomplished the plans, but we've still got some work to do," Howard said.

"The win was relatively easy. "I still think, however, we could do some things a lot better and, given the circumstances, if we had been as good as we would have liked to be, we probably would have made it a little easier."

Their opponents were a team comprising under-23 players who were unable to make their national sides. The youngsters, under the leadership of former West Indies captain Richie Richardson, might have been outclassed, but Springer said their presence in the competition could only serve them well for the future.

"I think it is something that should be continued."

The team included two Barbadians: batsman Kurt Wilkinson and left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn, who followed his nine-wicket match haul against the Windward islands with four victims against his countrymen.

"I told Sulieman it is a perfect example for him to get an opportunity to express himself, which he did in the last couple of games," Springer added.

The match was played at the home of the Clarke Road club in the south of Trinidad. It was only the second first-class match the ground was hosting and it gained a nod of approval from the Barbadians.

"The facilities were reasonably allright," Howard said.

"The ground itself was pretty good. It was rolled, it was well done. But like most of the Caribbean grounds, it was just too slow and I think we have got to work on that if we want to get better."

Located in a village-like setting, the ground was enhanced by the presence of three portable stands. "The people there were speaking about the possibility of developing the ground for further exposure at the first-class level," Springer said.

"I hope they do because it is a very good setting, a very good field and I think that the future holds well for them."